The Philadelphia 76ers kick off the season with a home victory.
The Philadelphia 76ers commenced the 2020-21 season with a lineup of stars Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons, recent acquisitions Danny Green and Seth Curry, and forward Tobias Harris.
The Wizards had their normal lineup with the exception of Rui Hachimura being absent due to injury.
The offense started off looking shaky, with three consecutive Embiid-Simmons pick-and-rolls leading to awkward misses. The Sixers then went 7-for-7 from the field, showing some offensive fluidity. Tobias Harris seemed to be an efficient option for the Sixers early on as he put up six points in his first quarter spell. Ben Simmons ran the floor effectively, getting four assists in the first quarter. Embiid seemed to start a bit slow on the offensive end but a dunk off of a Simmons lob was followed by three more baskets in the quarter before heading to the bench.
The second unit was a pleasure to watch in the first half. Tyrese Maxey didn’t look like a rookie making his debut as he ran the offense with great success, coming off Dwight Howard screens and dribble drives to go 3-for-4 in the first half while creating well and getting two very nice assists to open shooters. Milton was efficient, making 4-of-6 to score 10 points in 12 minutes in the half. Dwight Howard was great as a screener, a rim protector and reounder, picking up 10 rebounds in 13 minutes. Mike Scott and Furkan Korkmaz weren’t as involved in this first half spell but Kormaz went on to put up 11 points.
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The starters didn’t seem to show the same level of energy though as a 13 point lead in the second quarter was undone for the half to end with a Wizards one=point advantage following an 18-3 run.
The third quarter was a nightmare for the Sixers. The starters went cold to start the quarter, the first points coming from Ben Simmons with 6:05 left in the third frame. Milton, Howard and Korkmaz came in soon after that. While there did seem to be an improvement offensively, the Sixers just weren’t making their shots. Philadelphia entered the fourth quarter down by 10 points.
A lineup of Milton, Curry, Korkmaz, Scott and Embiid cut the lead down to tie the game in just less than five minutes in the fourth quarter. Embiid seemed to have been unleashed in the fourth as he put up 15 points in the quarter, carrying the offensive load for the Sixers. He was aggressive in the low post, getting good looks and drawing fouls, especially when matched up against Robin Lopez. I was impressed by Embiid facing up in the triple threat position and taking a few jab steps before, taking a contested dribble jumper and draining it from the free throw line.
With the game tied and 5:35 to go, Rivers elected to close with a lineup of Milton, Curry, Harris, Simmons and Embiid. This lineup excelled, with Curry doing well to find open cutters and making mid-range jumpers and floaters to keep the Sixers in the game. Milton was aggressive, taking it to the rim, scoring and drawing a couple of fouls. Simmons was solid on both ends.
It should be noted that Matisse Thybulle only played 17 seconds, which were all defensive possessions in the final minute, and it doesn’t seem as if he’s a part of Rivers’ core 10-man rotation. This does come as a surprise after a successful rookie season from Thybulle with many fans even advocating for him to get a starting spot at the beginning of the season.
While the game was closer than it should’ve been, tied up with less than three minutes to go, the Sixers did well to close, winning 113-107.
The Sixers can celebrate this victory but it’s clear to see there’s a lot of work to be done. Hopefully Rivers and his players can find their rhythm and we can start to see some more cohesion, especially on the offensive end.